Polestar locks performance update behind a paywall: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:03, 28 August 2025

Polestar charges $1,195 to unlock 34 extra horsepower from the existing hardware of the Polestar 2 Long range Dual Motor, even though newer production years of the same vehicle come with the update pre-installed.

Background

Polestar's vehicles include over-the-air (OTA) software updates. While having full control of the software and being able to send updates can benefit customers in many ways, it enables the manufacturer to software-lock certain features and hardware that are present and otherwise functional in the car.

This is the case with the Performance Software Update, an over-the-air software update that increases the car's horsepower by 34, and reduces the 0-60 MPH speed by 0.3 seconds.

[Incident]

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[Company]'s response

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Lawsuit

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Consumer response

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References

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@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 |Type=Digital restrictions
 |Description=Polestar locks horsepower upgrade behind a paywall
-}}
+}}Polestar charges $1,195 to unlock 34 extra horsepower from the existing hardware of the Polestar 2 Long range Dual Motor, even though newer production years of the same vehicle come with the update pre-installed.
-{{Ph-I-Int}}
 ==Background==
-{{Ph-I-B}}
+Polestar's vehicles include over-the-air (OTA) software updates. While having full control of the software and being able to send updates can benefit customers in many ways, it enables the manufacturer to software-lock certain features and hardware that are present and otherwise functional in the car.
+This is the case with the Performance Software Update, an over-the-air software update that increases the car's horsepower by 34, and reduces the 0-60 MPH speed by 0.3 seconds.
 ==[Incident]==